As a natural philosopher, I hold nature, science, art, creativity, and critical thought all in equal proportion as ways of being. This was the way of being up until the Renaissance, as famously practiced by DaVinci and Michelangelo, among others. Before Philosophy, Science, Humanities, Mathematics, Music, and Art were broken apart in The Enlightenment, these formed Natural Philosophy, also known as Alchemy, which holds our inner and outer worlds as being in balance if we’re doing life right. Natural Philosophy is the term for living an embodied life. All of these come together in subtle and mysterious ways when we are telling stories. This is why we are all witnessing the rise of storytelling in every area of science and culture.
As a natural philosopher, my imaginal, personal, and professional lives coexist in balance as a result of ceaseless creativity and reflection from early childhood til now. I encourage everyone I encounter to create. I teach Creative Writing of Poetry and Creative Nonfiction at the Thomas Wolfe MFA Creative Writing Program at Lenoir-Rhyne University. My courses are all in Zoom so people can take them from anywhere. I also teach Narrative Medicine, Poetic Medicine, Expressive Writing, and other therapeutic creativities.
My creativity is manifold: painting, poetry, essay, architectural history, and improv piano. All of it is who I am, not what I do, as this is how I keep it free and safe. I delight in it, roll around in it, live and breathe it. Nothing is outside it. I share it if it will bring a little light into the world. I keep it to myself if it will upset someone. The basic law of Natural Philosophy is to cheer the world up.
A key trait of natural philosophy is experiencing extreme sensitivity. This is what I cultivate and embrace even in the face of fear. Creativity makes this possible by both providing means of processing gallons upon gallons of emotional stimuli and by maintaining ongoing receptivity to these gallons. Creativity is the inside of fear.
Laura Hope-Gill, Natural Philosopher 